Into the Abyss
by hotsytotsy186
Summary: Rose and the Doctor find themselves trapped in a maze playing a game designed by a sadistic computer. Rose/10
1. Prologue

Prologue

The TARDIS shook violently, knocking her occupants unceremoniously to the floor. Sparks shot out of the console creating a spectacular sort of show, showers of yellow and gold rained down. Overhead beams swayed ominously as the crashing cacophony escalated, reaching a crescendo of metallic _blinks_ and wooden _thuds_.

"Doctor!" The blonde yelled, hands grasping a support. "What's going on?"

The Doctor righted himself and raced toward the control. "I don't know. Don't know." Hands turned dials, flipped switches, adjusted scopes. All to no avail. The ship pitched and rolled, bucked and tossed, a lost being on the waves of time and space.

"Doctor!" She managed to hobble toward the console, clutching her head.

The Doctor's brown eyes stared intently at his screen as his hand raked through his hair. "Rose, hold on!" He narrowed his gaze as comprehension dawned. "No. It can't be…" He looked up just in time to see her strong frame go limp and collapse to ground.

"ROSE!"


	2. Chapter 2

Rose was floating. It was dark. It was silent. And she was floating.

Slowly, she became aware of the tips of her fingers, then her arms, shoulders, neck and head. She licked her lips. _They're dry_, she thought. Her eyes fluttered and ever so slowly she began to open them. White hot light flooded in, nearly blinding her.

Where was she?

She stared up seeing only a white ceiling. "What?" She twisted her head to the right and then to the left. White, sterile, industrial walls. She flexed her fingers and moved to bring them to her face. It was only then that she realized she could not move. As her hands lifted up, a mysterious force pushed them back down. She craned her head to try to see.

She was strapped to a table. Each hand and each foot neatly tied down. She moved her arms again, this time with more force. Nothing.

"Oh, Doctor. What have you gotten me into this time?" She murmured. She thrashed a bit more, straining. "Help! Doctor! Somebody! Get me out!"

"Rose Tyler," a voice above her said. "It is no use. They cannot hear you."

She moved her head about searching for a speaker but found none. "Who are you? What am I doing here?"

"Rose Tyler, lay calmly. You are going to wear yourself out."

"Get me out of here!" She bucked wildly, accentuating her point.

"I cannot, Rose Tyler."

"And why not?" The voice did not answer. "And why not? Have you heard of the Doctor? I bet you have. He's eaten better than you for breakfast. He's saved the world from Daleks, more than once. He's caused stars to stop shining, planets to stop spinning. Royalty bows to him. And the greatest, most notorious criminals of all of time and space quiver in fear when he walks into a room." Her voice echoed in the room. "And you know what? He's _my_ Doctor and I'm_his_ Rose Tyler. So if you know what's good for you, you'd let me go."

The voice still did not reply.

A bit more weakly, "Are you there?"

"Yes, Rose Tyler."

"So are you going to let me go?"

"I cannot, Rose Tyler."

"Those speeches always work for him," she mumbled, irritated. "What do you want?"

"I want you, Rose Tyler."

"Yes, but what do you want from me?"

"I want to win."

Rose was more confused than ever. Win what? She was strapped to a table. She had no idea how she even got onto that table, let alone into this room. And now she was supposed to play a game?

"Win what?" Rose blinked furiously. She was beginning to worry. Where was the Doctor?

"I want to win."

"I understand that, but what…" a sharp metallic _tink_ sounded from one of the walls of the room. _Tink. Tink. Whirrr._Someone was trying to get in! "Help! I'm in here!"

"I want to win."

The whirring grew louder until… CLICK. Scrapping against the floor. Footsteps. Rose could not see who it was. She squirmed. _I hope that's one of the good guys_, she thought. She didn't want to think of what would happen if it wasn't.

She sensed someone to her left. Hot breath on her neck.

"Well, hello, Rose Tyler. Fancy meeting you here." She gasped as familiar deep brown eyes smiled at her.


	3. Chapter 3

"Where have you been?" Rose's cross words could not belie the joy the sparkled in her eyes.

"Well, you know, got caught in traffic." He smiled wryly. "Now what have got here?"

Rose jiggled about as he knelt down examining the cuffs. "Can't you just sonic it or something?"

"Eh…." A smile erupted across his face. "Yep." One by one the straps loosened and blood began to once again flow into her extremities. She sat up quickly and rubbed her wrists.

"Doctor, where are we?" she queried as she slid off the table. The room was much the same from this vantage point as it had been whilst strapped to the table. Stark white walls on four sides, white tiles on the floor, white industrial ceiling. The room was empty save the table.

"Well, that's a bit murky…" he paused, eyeing Rose curiously. "That's a nice get-up you've got there, Miss Tyler."

"What?" She looked down. A white hospital gown had replaced her jeans and purple jumper. "Oi! What's this?"

A smirk attempted to emerge on the Doctor's face but her glare prevented it from becoming anything more. "Come on, let's get out of here." They moved quickly to door but just as they reached it, it swung shut, a whirring noise indicating the engagement of the lock.

"Doctor, welcome." He turned on his heel, searching out the voice. When no speaker was immediately evident, he silent questioned Rose. She merely shrugged.

"She's been talking to me since I woke up."

"Doctor and Rose Tyler, I am so glad you could make it today."

"Right, erm, and who might you be?"

"I am the Automated Neural Network Integration. You may call me Anni."

"Alright, then, Anni," he rubbed the back of his neck. "We appreciate everything but we really must pop off now. So if you wouldn't mind opening the door…"

"I want to win," Anni interrupted.

He turned to Rose. "What's she on about?"

"I dunno. She kept repeating that me, but I have no idea what that means. Anni, what do you want to win?"

"I want to win, Doctor and Rose Tyler. I want to win our game."

Rose shifted on her feet and looked nervously at the Doctor.

"And what game is that?" he asked.

"Outside that door is a maze, Doctor. If you and Rose Tyler make it through the maze in two hours, you will be free to go."

"And if we don't?" His voice was low, menacing.

"If you do not make it out of the maze in the allotted time, you will join the Network."

He nodded, understanding Anni's request. He brought his hand to his face, contemplatively rubbing his chin. "'ere's the thing, Anni: Rose and I, we're kind of in a hurry, so really we don't have time for the game. But thanks, thanks so much for the offer."

"I want to win."

"She's not gonna' let us go, is she?" Rose shuddered at the thought of calling this Anni a "she" but she had no other option; "it" didn't seem appropriate either.

"Nope. Don't think so." The door behind them hissed as the lock disengaged. It swung open, revealing a dark corridor. The Doctor looked to Rose, raising his eyebrows. She took a moment, then nodded in reply. "Allons-y, Rose Tyler." He took her hand as they ran into the darkness.


	4. Chapter 4

They ran, hand in hand, down the dark corridor. The only light illuminating their path, the hanging bulbs overhead. There was silence all around save the clap of the Doctor's rubber-soled shoes and the soft slap of her own feet.

_I'm not even wearing shoes. Fantastic_. She shook the thought from her mind knowing that this would take all of her concentration.

Gradually, the corridor became lighter. The gray walls became vine covered and the floor filled with moss and grass. It was odd, certainly, but Rose had no time to contemplate the intricacies of alien architecture. The roof gave way to dim sunlight and towering shrubs replaced the industrial walls. She was panting now, but there was no chance to catch her breath.

"Doctor and Rose Tyler, I do hope you enjoy your journey. You have 1 hour and fifty minutes."

The Doctor slid to a stop and searched the cloudless sky. "That is getting just a wee bit eerie." Rose stumbled to his side. "Right. First thing we need to do is get a map."

"And how are we supposed to do that?" The Doctor smiled impishly and brandished his sonic screwdriver. "You can get a map with that?"

"Oh yes." He craned his head back, looking to the tops of the shrubs. They easily rose 12 feet into the air. He sighed and scrunched his brow. Tapping the sonic on his chin he marched back and forth evidently trying to come up with a plan. "A map… a map… tall…"

"Doctor."

"Huh?" He didn't look up.

"Doctor, come here." He looked reticent but obeyed. "Now turn around." Again he obeyed. "Now kneel down."

"What?"

"The only way to get a map is to get a bird's eye view, yeah? We need to get higher than that shrub. I'll climb on your shoulders and… sonic."

"Oh, Rose Tyler, you are a brilliant one." His face almost exploded with the force of his smile.

"I would hardly call using a ladder a move of brilliance." He knelt down and she stepped up on his shoulders, steadying herself using the branches of the shrub. "And don't you get fresh down there!" She tucked the material of her hospital gown a bit between her legs. He let out what may have been a snort, but she wouldn't swear to it.

Slowly, he rose. They wobbled a bit half way up but soon Rose was staring out over the maze. "Blimey…"

"Here, take this." He gingerly handed her the sonic. "Just press the button and hold it down. Sweep it over the horizon."

"Right. Right." She did as he said. "Doctor, this maze is huge. I don't know if two hours is going to be enough… It's massive." It was indeed massive. Her entire view was taken up by the shrubbery that lined the maze. Its twists and turns made no sense, even from this altitude. For the first time in a long time, Rose wasn't sure even the Doctor could get them out of this mess.

Mission complete, Rose climbed down and handed the sonic back to the Doctor. Fiddling with it a bit, he finally made a sound of satisfaction. "Perfect!"

"Got it?"

"Yep. Ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." She smiled weakly as they raced off.

She followed him closely around the bends and turns. It seemed almost by chance that they turned here and not there, but the Doctor trusted his instrument implicitly. And so they followed it, blindly believing it would take them to their destination.

"Doctor and Rose Tyler: you have done an excellent job so far. I do hope you can continue as such… but I doubt you will."

"Is a machine taunting us, Doctor?"

"Yes, ma'am, I think it is." They rounded a corner and the Doctor suddenly put on the brakes, sending Rose colliding into his back. They tumbled down.

"Doctor, what the…" But before she could even get the question out, Rose knew why he had so suddenly stopped. She looked in front of them. A giant chasm opened up not a foot from where they had fallen. The sound of rushing water could be heard coming from within. The crack opened a good thirty feet before meeting the opposite cliff. She looked at the Doctor, startled.

"Your sonic. Didn't it see this?"

"It says this is the way. It says there is a path here."

"I don't know about you," she leaned in closer to the edge. "But this does not look like a path to me." Below, the river was a tiny speck.

He shook the device and murmured something. Likely an unpleasant something. Movement from behind them caught Rose's attention. She slowly turned on her heels.

"Doctor…"

"It's got to be something with the wiring. Maybe the tracer circuitry is corrupted."

"Doctor." It was a quiet but insistent request.

"But it can't be!"

"Doctor, turn around."

"What is it, Rose?"

Rose didn't need to answer. The low growl coming from the creature in front of them was the only response required.

"What is it?" Rose had seen a lot in her time with Doctor, but she had never seen the likes of this. A large boxy, dog-like creature with three heads stood before them, drooling. His coat was a matte grey and brown. His fangs glistened in the low light.

"I think," he said slowly. "I think that is a Filolene. I don't know what he's doing here."

Rose kept her eyes on the Filolene. "Why? Why is he not supposed to be here? Where is he supposed to be?"

"They come from Alpha-9 in the Krystene galaxy. That's a far cry from here." The Filolene inched closer, his tongues licking each one of his mouths in turn.

"Well, I don't think he's here on vacation." They stepped back as the giant moved forward. His heads lowered; he pawed the ground. "Um… Doctor, he looks hungry."

"Yes. I would be, too, if I had to travel that distance. Now listen to me, Rose. Are you listening?" She nodded her head but didn't turn. "There are two ways out: through the Filolene or over the chasm. I guarantee you going through him will not be fun. My sonic tells me there is a path there. Now, Rose, when I say go, you need to run over the cliff."

"Over the cliff?"

"Over the cliff. You trust me?" He was looking at her now.

There was a moment of hesitation but his dark eyes begged her to believe. "Yes." And she did.

"One…" The Filolene moved closer. "Two…" The Timelord and the human stepped closer to the edge. "Go!"

Closing her eyes, Rose turned and bolted, ran with all her might over the cliff.


	5. Chapter 5

Eyes still closed, Rose ran with all of her might. To her utter shock, she did not plummet when her feet left the safety of grassy pass. Images from her childhood of Wile E. Coyote flashed through her mind. And yet she didn't fall. Rose dared not open her eyes, so she ran blindly. Two forceful hands met her waist and pushed her down with their momentum. She stumbled and rolled but opened her eyes to discover both she and Doctor sprawled on the opposite side of the gulch. She lay panting, eyes to the sky.

"We made it," she gasped.

"Yes we did." The Doctor lay across her, his midsection covering her torso.

"But how?"

"Well, I can't be positive, but I'd say that that cliff is just a perception filter. My sonic told me there was land there because perception filters don't work on inanimate objects. If there's land, the sonic'll see it even if I can't."

"So basically you just made a huge guess."

He grinned broadly. "Yes. But it was a brilliant one!"

Casting her eyes back to other side, Rose pointed. "Why isn't it following us?"

The Doctor shifted, sitting up. "The Filolene can only see the cliff. His survival instinct is kicking in." The Filolene stood, pawing at the ground and growling menacingly. Rose was very glad she and the Doctor were on the other side now. "Alright, Rose Tyler, are you ready to continue our journey?"

"I'm ready to be done with it." She gripped his hand as he helped her stand. She quickly embraced him. "I don't know what I'd do without you." He winked, grabbed her hand, and they were running once again.

"Doctor and Rose Tyler: you have done well on this first test." The Doctor and Rose slowed their gait as the voice of ANNI reverberated through the maze. "Don't expect it to continue. You have 73 minutes remaining."

"Did she just taunt us? Am I being taunted by a big, ugly machine?"

"Yes, Rose Tyler. I believe you are. What are you going to do about it?"

"I'm going to kick it's arse. A good, proper arse kicking."

"That's right, Rose!" Hand in hand, they marched purposefully forward, sonic at the ready.

And then nothing. Rose looked to her left and to her right, occasionally behind her. There were no monsters. No more Filolenes or anything that remotely resembled a monster. The Doctor rambled on about some planet she'd never heard of before, recounting its history and geography, and geological make-up. Rose added the appropriate _Uh huh_'s and _Oh_'s. Try as she might, she could not concentrate on what he was saying.

The maze was filled with an eerie silence. Their feet made a quiet rustling noise in the grass and, other than the Doctor's droning, there were no other noises. No animals. No insects. Nothing.

"Doctor." He stopped a few feet in front of her. "Doctor, do you feel that?"

"What?"

"Shhh." They stood in silence. Pure, complete silence.

"Nothing."

"Exactly," she breathed. "No wind, no noise."

"This planet isn't even rotating. In all the excitement, I hadn't noticed."

"Where are we, Doctor?" She gulped.

"I don't know."

For the first time in a long time, Rose felt what she could only identify as fear.


	6. Chapter 6

Ignoring the instinct to crawl into the fetal position, Rose bravely marched on. The impulse to know what else was out there was too great for her ignore. Every step was cautious. Every movement calculated. The Doctor, too, placed his feet gingerly on the grassy surface.

"Right," he said. "The task at had is to get out of here and get out off here alive."

"I can't help but feel like something is off, ya know? It's…"

"Oppressive." She nodded. "Well, according to my Sonic here, we've not much further to go, so…"

The Doctor's thought was cut off by a sudden and violent shaking. Rose fell to the ground unceremoniously and instinctively covered her head until the movement had ceased. Swallowing, she looked up. The hedge. The path. The grass.

No Doctor.

Her heart was in her throat. She stood quickly. "Doctor! Doctor, where are you? Doctor!"

"Rose, I'm over here." He called to her from behind, exactly where she thought he had been. Now, however, there stood a towering hedge. She rushed to it and placed her hand on the greenery.

"Doctor?"

"Yes, Rose. I'm here. I'm on the other side. There seems to be… um, well, giant shrubbery between us."

"Yeah. What happened?"

"I would guess it was one of ANNI's pleasant little tricks. The walls of the maze are shifting. As they shift, they separate us. She's trying to break us apart."

Rose's eyes widened. "How are we supposed to reach the exit?"

"That's kind of the point." Silence.

"Well, I can find you. You're right there, right? I can just find my way to you."

"The walls are moving, Rose. They'll move again, if I'm right."

She turned her back to the hedge and leaned against it. Rubbing the back of neck in much the same way she imagined the Doctor was doing right at the moment, she craned her head to the sky. The greyness, as it was certainly not blue, held no clouds, no depth. Seemed more like a ceiling than anything else. The hedge stretched up, nearly fifteen feet. She sighed. Then she bit her lip. She wasn't sure, but she thought a plan might be hatching in her mind.

The Doctor frantically ran through several functions on the Sonic screwdriver. Each one told him the same story: electropulses were changing throughout the maze, meaning the walls and floors were shifting. ANNI was trying to separate them.

"Bugger," he huffed. There had to be a way. There was always a way. "ANNI seems to be using some kind of electronic force to shift these hedges. If I can find a way to neutralize the signal, I may able to stop this." Calculations whizzed through his head. Figures danced. "Oh, you believe me, Rose, I am going to get us back together."

"I trust you." The voice was terrifyingly close to his ear. He jumped and whirled.

"Oi! What… what?" Rose stood before. He looked behind her: the hedge stood intact and unmoved. "How?"

"I climbed," she shrugged nonchalantly.

"Climbed?"

"Like a tree. Up and over."

He silently chided himself for not thinking of something as simple as climbing over the hedge. "Oh, you're brilliant, Rose!"

"Well, these nicks on my hands and legs might say otherwise, but I'll take the compliment." She took a deep breath and winced and the stabbing pain in her side. The exertion of climbing up the 15 or 20 feet had almost done her in. "Come on. And don't let go of my hand!"


	7. Chapter 7

She dragged him 10 feet before ANNI could pipe in. The entity had been quiet for a while, Rose thought to herself.

"Doctor and Rose Tyler, I must admit I am surprised by your persistence. The last person who was in here gave up after the Filolene. But still, I want to win."

Hands still grasped firmly in one another's, the Doctor turned his face skyward. "And what does that mean, ANNI? How are you going to win? What are you going to do? What's your endgame here?"

"Doctor and Rose Tyler, you already know that when you lose you will join the Network."

"What's the Network, Doctor?" His eyes darted to her momentarily. The firm expression on his lips belied his worry. "Doctor, what is the Network? Please, just tell me."

"Not now."

"Then when?" She matched his expression, eyebrow raise to eyebrow raise.

"Rose Tyler must not be angry with the Doctor. Rose Tyler, would you like to climb the hedge again?" Silence settled over as ANNI's voice echoed. A moment passed wherein the same eerie quality of silence, of nothingness, enveloped them. "Run, run as fast as you can. Your fears may soon catch you."

The ground shook once more causing the Doctor to momentarily lose Rose's hand. Rose looked up; the towering hedges grew straight into the sky another 10 feet or so. Just up. Straight out of the ground. When the shaking finally stopped, a dark shadow hung over them.

"Come on," the Doctor said roughly, pulling her forward. "We haven't got time for this game." Yanking her around the corner he muttered under his breath. Rose knew the Doctor behaved in strange ways when they were in danger, but something was off here. He wouldn't tell her about the Network. Why wouldn't he tell her about the Network?

"Doctor," she jerked her hand away. The cuts from the hedges were throbbing now. She mindlessly rubbed at them, willing the stinging to ease. "What is the Network? Why won't you tell me?"

"Not now, Rose," he spat back. He raised his Sonic to the sky and stepped around the hedge, disappearing from view.

"Yes now! I need to know what we're fighting, right? How else can I help you? Oi! For being an alien, you are such a man sometimes!" She raked her aching hand through her hair.

"Help me?" He thundered back around the hedge with such force that Rose momentarily lost her balance. "Help me? You? Help me?" He was incredulous. There was a cold fire in his eyes that Rose had seen only reserved for the most hated species and vile individuals. "You, you stupid ape, think that you help me? You're the reason we're in most of the messes we get into. You run off or do something stupid and I have to come back for you!" Rose stood arms hanging limply at her side, unsure of what to say. She wanted to be angry, wanted to throw back at him what he was giving her. Instead she felt her heart breaking into a million pieces with each word.

He leveled his sonic screwdriver at her and accented each point by thrusting it toward her. "You are careless, you are naïve, you are stupid. You stupid, stupid human! This is it. This is the last trip you will ever see. If we get out of this, I'm taking you straight back to the Powell Estate. I should know better than bring someone as idiotic as you along." With that he thundered back out of sight.

Rose just gaped. She could not understand the venom spewing from him, could not fathom from whence it had come. The hot tears rolled down her face. "No, no…" Her lips trembled and her hands began to shake. "Oh, please no…"

"What was that all about?" There he was again, look of indignation intact. "Come around the corner and just lambast me with that?"

"What?" She could barely get the word out from behind the mask of tears.

"I mean, if you really do feel that way… I understand." In an all too familiar gesture, he began to rub the nape of his neck. His eyes were downcast and unsure. That hadn't been a look of indignation; that had been confusion. Just like the confusion that was now forming on her own face.

"Doctor, what are you talking about?"

"What you just said to me."

"What did I say?"

A moment of silence.

"Right, eh, you said that I was horrible at protecting you and that you wish you had never come with me and that you wanted to go home. Now. Back to England." His eyes searched her face. Softly, "And that you hated me."

She shook her head vehemently and covered the distance between them quickly. "I don't hate you." She cupped his cheek. "I could never hate you."

"So that was just in anger?"

"No. I never said it."

"What?"

"I didn't say any of that." She paused, praying he believed her. "I didn't . You just came around the corner and called me a stupid ape. Again. But this time I think you meant it. And you said that you were taking me home for good."

"I didn't say those things. I would never…"

"I know. Think about it: ANNI said our fears would catch up with us."

"Our fears…" he trailed off remember ANNI's cryptic message just moments before.

"She's playing mind games with us, picking our biggest fear and playing it against us."

"It wasn't you."

"And it wasn't you."

A small smile curled his lips as he pressed her hand to his face. He let out a deep breath. "You have no idea how glad I am to hear that."

She couldn't help but smile. "I think I do. Now come on, yeah? We still got to finish this course. We don't have much time left. Did that thing tell you where to go?"

He glanced at the sonic in his right hand. "Yeah," he said softly. "Yeah. We're almost there."


	8. Chapter 8

The shadows passed over them ominously as the Doctor and Rose continued. They rounded each corner with trepidation, unsure of what would come next. ANNI had not spoken to them for some time. Rose had no idea how long they had left, but she felt it could not possibly be very long. Having no watch or even the sun by which to judge time, she relied on the Doctor to keep them on track.

The Doctor, Sonic still outstretched, scanning, gripped Rose's hand tightly. His mouth, a thin, tight line, held none of its usual mirth. As their remaining time had faded, so had his typical bravado. They were racing for their lives now.

The eerie calm still floated through the air. The grass tickled her feet. Still they pushed on. They rounded yet another corner and were met with a very different vista.

Stretching out before them was no longer the narrow paths lined with hedges; rather, a field marked by undulating hills. Sporadic copses of tress sprang from among the green waves. It was a large field. Vast, really. The outer edges were lined with the same hedges that had held them in for so long now.

"Eight minutes," the Doctor said, taking in the view.

Rose nodded. Nothing seemed noteworthy among the hills so she turned her attention to the perimeter. Same hedges, same heights, same colours…

"Wait…" she whispered. She peered into the distance. There, almost in the corner where two walls met, stood something large and brown. Something very decidedly not hedge-like. She pointed. "Look."

"A door…"

"Yeah. So you think that's what we've got to do? Get to the door?"

He inhaled deeply and lolled his head from side to side. "Best guess I've got. Our little friend from above has been silent."

"ANNI!" Rose pointed her head to the sky and cried at the top of her voice. "ANNI!" Silence. "We got to get to door, yeah?" Still silence. She shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I tried."

He gave her a soft smile. "Yeah, you did." Their eyes met. She returned his smile and gently squeezed his hand.

"Let's go. Allons-y?"

"Allons-y."

Hand-in-hand, they marched forward. Their pace was slow, but it was steady. Nothing appeared to be ready to jump out at them from behind the hills or even the trees.

"It can't be this easy, can it? Just walk to a door? Doesn't make sense."

"You're right. No evil genius would make the last part of a maze the easiest…"

"And you would know why?" she queried.

He slipped a sideway glance at her. "I'm a genius and if I harnessed my powers for evil instead of good, this is not how I would design this."

"What would you do?"

He thought for a moment. "Something that would surprise you. Something you hadn't seen before this."

"Well, that could be anything."

"Yeah. But I'd bring it from some place unexpected."

"So not from the trees or the hills or hedges." He nodded. "Where else could it come from?" At the same time, their eyes lifted toward the sky.

It wasn't clear at first; more of a giant dark blob against the dreariness of a gray sky. But as they stood there, watching it, it grew and grew until Rose could see, even from a distance, the creature was massive.

"Come on!" The Doctor yelled as they lurched forward heading toward the nearest copse of trees. They had been running all day and Rose was tired, so very tired. She pushed herself anyway.

About halfway to the trees, she managed to sneak a look at the creature. She immediately regretted the decision. It was much larger, and much closer than she had expected. The bird-like creature cast a shadow over a huge part of the field. It's wingspan had to be at least seven feet and every inch of it was covered by glossy brown feathers. It's body was round with large talons hanging off of stumpy legs. Its head was oblong with an extended snout. Angry fangs fell below a menacing mouth. To Rose, it seemed like a mix between an eagle and dragon.

Her footing slipped. She cursed herself for having fallen to the very amateur need to look back. She knew better. The Doctor pulled her to help keep her balance. Soon they were in the cover of the trees. She saw the creature swoop in and then away from them, circling back over the maze.

"What the hell was that?" her breath was ragged as she asked the question.

"An Eaglon." Well, she'd been close. "It's, uh… not a nice creature. Comes from Quixar, planet of the poison rocks."

"So it's trying to kill us, eat us."

"Well… trying to get close enough to pierce us with one of his talons." When Rose simply looked at him, the Doctor continued. "His talons secrete a bit of a chemical that's like an anesthetic. Well, not really, but kind of. You get cut by that talon and you'll lose consciousness very quickly. That's when the Eaglon descends and…"

"I get the picture."

She looked out over the field. The Eaglon was circling back toward them now.

"They fly in circles when they are searching their prey; don't have a very good turning radius. Kind of a clumsy creature, actually. Er…We wait for him to circle back and then make a run for it, yeah? We can go there," he pointed to another crop of trees about 100 yards away.

"So we just keep hopping from tree to tree until we're close enough to the door?"

He shook his head. "I don't think we'll have time for that." He paused thoughtfully. "We go to the next grove and then the next time he flies round, we have to make a run for it, I guess."

He was worried. Rose swallowed. She'd never seen him with such a lack of confidence.

"Right."

They watched in weary silence as the large Eaglon circled back around and crossed their position. "Ready?" she said with false brightness in her voice.

He took her hand and they began their sprint. Her legs pumped furiously as her heart pounded in her ears. She struggled to keep up with the Doctor as his long legs provided for greater strides. She heard a screech so shrill, so evil that it could belong to no other than the Eaglon. She fought the urge to cover her ears knowing that it may slow her. The trees were getting closer now. She sensed the shadow of the Eaglon overcoming her. With a last spurt of energy, she flung herself into the grove of trees. Her skin chilled as the air disturbed by the Eaglon washed over her.

The Doctor was kneeling beside her. "Yeah?" He asked breathlessly.

"Yeah." He helped her to her feet. She stood bent over, hands on knees trying her best to reclaim oxygen.

The door was clearly visible against the green of the foliage, its brown wood structure standing out like a sore thumb. But it was still at least 200 yards away. They had barely cleared 100 yards before being overtaken by the Eaglon. How in the world would they manage this? The Doctor could obviously sense her concern. He gave her a reassuring hug before turning his eyes back to where the Eaglon soared, canvassing what it hoped would be its next meal. The shadow descended and passed over their place of seclusion.

"Rose," he grasped her shoulders tightly. "Whatever happens, you keep running. You hear me? You run."

"I'll run," she whispered.

She knew she wasn't terribly convincing. His eyes didn't buy it.

They ran, the Doctor slightly lagging behind. Rose huffed and puffed. Having not fully recovered from their last spring, her energy reserves were low. She could hear the pat-pat of his rubber soles hitting the grassy surface. They ran up one hill and down. The door was growing larger and larger as she neared it. The screech of the Eaglon still seemed far off. They were going to do it. They were actually going to do it.

"Aaah!" Rose slid to a stop and whirled. The Doctor, having fallen to one knee, held his left arm with his right hand. A look of pure anguish etched deep lines in his face. When he pulled his hand away, a crimson stain followed. His eyes, large and wide, held sadness and disappointment and worry. Rose's eyes rose to the sky. The Eaglon had silently come up behind them and tagged its next kill.

"Doctor!" She rushed to his side.

"Run, Rose! Run!" He was quickly losing consciousness. "I'm sorry. So sorry. Two minutes…" His eyes rolled back as he slumped to the ground.

"Oh, no you don't!" She lifted him as best she could and began dragging his limp form toward the door. The Eaglon began its next circle. This time, she knew it meant to take him. Dead weight as he was, Rose struggled to move him. But the door was coming closer and closer with each step.

Almost there.

She looked up as a loud screech left her stunned with ringing in her ears. The Eaglon would be on them within seconds. She turned and was in arm's reach of the door.

She forcefully pushed the old iron metalwork handle. It did not budge.

"ANNI!" she screamed. "ANNI! We are at the door. Let us out!" She pounded on the wooden frame. "ANNI! Please…"

She could see the whites of the Eaglon's eyes. Its talons were outstretched.

She pulled at the door with all she could muster.

"Please…" she whimpered. "Please."

Then everything faded to black.


	9. Chapter 9

Rose woke with a start. Gasping for breath, she attempted to sit up but found herself held back by a mysterious force. She willed the dancing colours to form coherent images before her eyes. Slowly blobs and indistinct forms morphed into the ceiling of the TARDIS console room.

"What… what…" she gasped. Her heart was beating rapidly, her breaths were ragged and quick.

"Shhh…" she heard from her left. "Shhhh… It's alright. You're ok." The speaker came into view. It was the Doctor. He hovered over her and closed his eyes. Nearly instantaneously a cool wave washed over her body and she calmed.

Her thoughts, jumbled just a moment ago, were coming into focus now. "What happened? I don't understand. Was it a dream?" He shook his head. "The Eaglon, the maze… ANNI…"

"Exactly."

"What?"

"ANNI- Automated Neural Network Integration. She psychically took control of you."

"I don't understand." Rose was staring up into his eyes. They were soft and concerned.

"ANNI is a…" He thought for a moment, searching for the right words. "ANNI uses a psychic wave to transmit from a Neural Network to individuals in the receiving area. A Neural Network is kind of… a… a thing, you know? It, uh, brings information to people."

"What information?"

"Any information. All the information."

"So it's like the internet?"

"No… well, yes. Except not really. Ok, let's think about it like the internet. The Neural Network is kind of like the internet. All the information is stored there. It connects to individual beings using a psychic wave. It's like…" he paused again, thinking. "It's like wireless internet. The psychic wave is transmitted and individuals pick it up, much like a computer would. But it needs a physical interface in order to transmit the signal."

"Physical interface? Like a router? So instead of using a router it uses a physical interface… me?"

"Precisely!" he cried excitedly. "The Neural Network needs a physical interface. That's where ANNI comes in. ANNI is what chooses who will be the interface. Long, long time ago," he began animatedly. "The creators of the Neural Network decided to set up a failsafe should they be unable to carry on their method of choosing interfaces. So they automated the Neural Network. They set up parameters for ANNI to choose the interface so that it could run in perpetuity."

"Why did she choose me?"

"I have no idea." He was clearly flummoxed.

"So ANNI was challenging us? If we didn't make it out, we'd be… what? Transmitters?"

"Dead. You'd be dead." She gulped. "And it's not exactly _us_…"

"But you were there, too. You found me in the maze…" she felt a gentle tapping on each of her temples as he moved his fingers lightly. "You… were in my head, too? You and ANNI?"

"Um, yes." He averted his eyes.

"So, let me get this straight, yeah? ANNI psychically takes over my brain and you jump in to….?"

His response was quiet but full of meaning. "I was concerned. No one's ever survived a challenge from ANNI."

"Oh." He smiled weakly. "And if I died in there, I die here." She paused thoughtfully. "You told me to run. No matter what, you said, run. You were willing to do that for me."

"Well, to be fair, I was fairly sure nothing would happen to me if I died in there. I wasn't positive, but I had a good feeling about it."

"I'm not in danger now though, right?"

"No. None at all."

"Then could I…" she gestured with her head indicating her desire to sit up.

"Oh, right, of course." The instant he removed his fingers from her temples Rose felt an expulsion of warmth echo through her body. She shuddered. "Oh, sorry." The Doctor removed his coat and draped it over her shoulders. "That's a common reaction to psychic withdrawal." He pulled her close and gently rubbed her arms.

She leaned her head against his shoulder. He smelled like leather and cinnamon, an exotic combination that served to comfort her on one hand and excite her on another. Right now, however, she just wished to breathe deeply and be held.

He cleared his throat. "The human mind is kind of like a long hallway, rooms on either side holding memories. When you want to access those memories it's like opening one of the doors. You can go in and riffle around, paw through the filing cabinets and then hold the memory in your hand. When I was trying to find where ANNI was in your mind, I had to open a lot of doors. I saw a few things you may not have wanted me to."

She moved back and turned her eyes to him. He knew everything about her. What could he possibly be talking about? Her brow furrowed as she tried, without success, to find one memory she would not willingly give him.

He sat a moment almost as if he wanted her figure out what he was talking about. With a look of exasperation when she could not satisfactorily read his mind he pursed his lips. With a voice just a touch higher than he typically spoke with he cooed, "You've been looking. And you like it…"

Rose's cheeks flushed immediately. She had been fairly certain that he had no memory of when Cassandra took over his body because she had no memory of when it happened to her. Hearing him repeat those words embarrassed her to no end. She cringed and pulled the jacket tighter.

To his credit, the Doctor attempted to stifle his laugh, but some things are too difficult, even for a Timelord. His chuckle turned into a full-blown laugh which itself morphed into a roar. Rose turned to him, thinking he was making fun of her. But the laughter was so good-natured and so contagious that not even Rose could resist. Soon they were breathless from the exertion.

"You know, though, you're not the only one who's been looking…" Rose's eyes widened. Was he saying what she thought he was saying?

"What?"

"Rose," he cupped her cheek. "My brilliant, fantastic Rose." He gently brushed a strand of hair from in front of her eyes.

"Doctor," but before she could finish the thought, his lips crashed into hers, and with them something exploded in her brain. Purple and green and light and stars and the warmth of the sun on a spring day and the laughter of the children and all the things she loved. And the Doctor. Especially the Doctor.

His body was warm and her lips were willing. Her hands rested on his hips as his pulled her face closer. The kiss was sweet and full of passion and absolutely perfect.

He pulled back and Rose could not help the broad smile the suddenly spread across her face. His face echoed her own. Then, just as quickly, he spun on his heel and sauntered back to the console.

"So, Rose Tyler, where do you want to go next?" The Doctor fiddled with the levers and spun a do-hickey.

Rose, startled finally into action moved toward him.

"I don't really care, 's long as it's with you."

"And that, Rose Tyler," he said as pushed a button and looked sweetly yet excitedly at her. "Is exactly why I keep you around."


End file.
